Capítulo 24: Murder
(3rd person POV)
Police tape cordons off the house, lights flashing across its walls. The detective that was called to the scene sighs, adjusting his coat so it rests on his shoulders easier.
"So what do we know so far?" He asks one of the officers.
"A break-in and a murder, bundled into one package deal for your convenience." She smirks back. At his tired look, the brunette continues in a more serious tone. "That actually is the gist of what we've been able to determine. Neighbors called when they heard the screams, and when we got here we found the man in a blood soaked living room."
The detective sighs. "Well, let's see what I'm dealing with today."
He enters the house, pulling on a pair of gloves as the officer follows. 'No damage to the door or the foyer', he notes. 'So the victim opened the door on their own, which makes the break-in angle debatable.'
Whether or not it was argued in the courtroom isn't his problem though. What is, is figuring out what happened and who to track down.
He grimaces when he enters the living room. Blood is splattered across everything. The couch. The walls. The tv. Looking up, he also sees it on the ceiling. But where the blood has pooled? That would be three locations.
The pair of arms tossed in the corner.
Around the corpse itself.
And finally, on the coffee table, where the man's head rests.
His nose scrunches up at the strong smell of blood, as well as the scene. But this is his job, and as unfortunate as it is that he can say it, he's used to this kind of scene. So instead of saying anything about how horrible the scene is, he simply crouches down to examine the mostly full corpse.
"Judging by the condition of the shoulders, as well as the marks around his feet, odds are that the victim was still alive when his arms were torn off."
The officer who accompanied him nods her head, writing jotting down what he said.
"So it wasn't just a burglary. More likely the real intention was the victim. But was it to settle a grudge? Or something else…"
He trails off and examines the torn off parts of the body. "The arms are crushed, and the head still has part of the spine attached, so the killer likely has some form of strength enhancing quirk."
He sighs. "Not that that would narrow it down. Any information on who the victim was?" He asks, staring at the third eye on the head.
He hears the rustle of papers behind him and extends a hand, retracting it once he feels a folder in his hands.
A quick look reveals that the man was named Paul Akihiro, and he had a monkey based mutation quirk. 'Though I could have guessed as much due to the tail.' According to the file, he's married to a woman with a whale quirk, also a mutation.
"No criminal record… but that doesn't mean he might not have hidden anything." He mutters to himself. "Did you search the house for any clues?"
The officer nods her head. "We did. Apparently his wife isn't here, and judging by the amount of dust that's collected on her clothes in the closet she hasn't been back in a long time."
He nods. "Anything else?"
"Well…" She hesitates a moment. "We found another room. Judging by the look, it's a girl. Apparently she went to take the UA entrance exam today. Lucky for her."
He winces. Gone to take a test for highschool, come back to find your father murdered. Not a good day. Though taking a look around the room, something nags at him.
Frowning, he decided to ask the officer if she noticed anything. "Saito, does something feel off to you?"
"Like what?" Her tone clearly conveys her confusion at the sudden question.
"I'm not sure…" His eyes fall on a picture frame on a shelf showing the man and woman, presumably on their wedding day judging by the clothes. And then it hits him.
"If he has a daughter, why aren't there any pictures of her?"
She blinks at him before taking a closer look at the room. While there are pictures of husband and wife, she does confirm that there doesn't seem to be any of the supposed daughter.
"There might be more to this than meets the eye. Let's get the girl in for questioning. Also, try to pull up any kind of surveillance in the area. Who knows, we might get lucky."
𝌡𝌡𝌡
(Detective POV)
It's approaching evening when we manage to track down the girl. Apparently she was hanging out with a friend after the exam.
She has a confused look on her face when we bring her in, but for some reason my instincts are telling me that she's someone to keep an eye on. Shaking it off for the moment, but keeping my guard up, I lead her to the interrogation room and we both take our seats.
"Miss Catia Akihiro-" I begin, only for her to cut me off.
"Please call me Catia. I'm not a fan of my last name." I nod in acknowledgement.
"Very well, Miss Catia." I place a tape recorder on the table between us. "I'll be recording our conversation, just so that there are no misunderstandings. Do you understand?" At her words of confirmation, I turn it on and begin to question her. "Do you know why we brought you here?"
She shrugs. "I'm not sure. But if I had to make a guess, I would say that it has something to do with Paul."
I raise an eyebrow at her choice of words. "Paul? Not dad or father? What about your adoptive mother, Pearl?"
She scowls. "I don't consider that man to be my father. My father died a long time ago. And as much as I enjoy Pearl's company, I can't bring myself to think of her as a mother figure. I can't replace my parents that easily."
I nod. "That's a reasonable feeling. Though if you don't mind me asking, how did your parents die?"
A grimace crosses her lips. "My mother was killed due to a fight between a hero and a villain. When I was three, before my quirk fully manifested, my father was eaten by a cactus."
I'm sipping from my cup of coffee while she talks, but when she mentions how her father died I choke on it. Sputtering to clear my airways, I stammer out, "I-I'm sorry, what? Your father was… eaten by a cactus?"
She sighs. "Yes, he was eaten by a cactus. I know how it sounds, but apparently someone's quirk got out of control, and it turned the nearby plants at the store into carnivorous monsters. My father fell victim to a cactus."
"Ah. Um, I'm sorry for bringing up bad memories." 'I really want to feel bad for it, but I can't get the image of someone being eaten by a cactus out of my head. It just sounds really cartoonish.'
Thankfully though, I manage to refocus on the situation at hand. "The reason we brought you here is because yo-because Paul was murdered in your home while you were taking the UA exam."
I watch as her eyes widen and she gasps. But the feeling from when she first came into the station returns. The feeling that there's more to her than she's letting on. I'm the type to trust my instincts, which is why I'm the one questioning her.
I pull a photo of a villain from the folder at my side and show it to her. "Do you know this man?"
She looks at it for a moment with furrowed brows. "This… isn't this that one villain? The one who killed one of the Water Hose couple?"
I nod. "He goes by Muscular. Your neighbors have a camera that caught him entering your home, and leaving bloody." She trembles a bit, but otherwise has no reaction, causing me to frown. Normally someone would react more if told their guardian was killed. Even if they weren't close.
"You don't seem all that upset about this." I say, a touch of accusation in my tone.
She winces. "Well… the truth is that I was planning to move out soon. Paul wasn't a very good person to live with."
"How so?" Maybe this can tell us why he was targeted by such a strong villain.
She hesitates. "He… drank. Ever since Pearl left he started drinking. And he would make… advances." She shifts uncomfortably. "When he was at work one day, I went to his room and found tiny cameras stashed under a loose floorboard. That was the day I started to make preparations to move."
I don't react. At least not much. The only thing that reveals my anger and disgust towards the now deceased parent is a clenching of my hands.
"I see. But if I may, how were you planning to pay for your new housing?" A teen girl suddenly having enough money to move out on her own at sudden notice is suspicious as hell after all.
But they're dismissed by her words. "I have a lot of money saved up. I've done some odd jobs, one of which is semi-frequent and pays well. I also have some interest in the stock market." She shrugs. "Even if I couldn't live in a house as big as I currently am, I could still find something for myself."
I nod in understanding. If you understand how it flows, or even just get lucky, someone could earn a lot from the stock market. Couple that with odd jobs, and it's not unreasonable for her to earn enough to live on.
"Thank you for your time. Do you have anywhere to stay at the moment? Just so we can contact you if needed."
She taps her chin as her ears twitch. "I suppose that I can stay with a friend. Either at the Midoriya residence or the Hijima residence. Though I'd have to call to make sure."
I nod. "Please do, and let us know." We both rise and I let her out. "We'll be in touch."
Closing the door behind her, I stare at it a moment. Everything she said is perfectly reasonable. Nothing that would make us suspect her, other than my own feelings. Even my quirk, Lie Detector, confirms that she was telling the truth the whole time. And there's no way a kid like that would know about it, or be able to evade it so completely.
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